In 2014, Elorza earned 52.1 percent of the vote and Cianci, who ran as an independent, won 45 percent. Republican Daniel Harrop earned 2.6 percent of the vote. Elorza beat Cianci by about 2,700 votes.

“The talking heads said if you go by the yard signs, (Witman’s) very strong on the East Side,” said June Speakman, a political science professor at Roger Williams University. “But he (Elorza) appears to have had strong support throughout the city.”

Wendy Schiller, a political science professor at Brown University, said Elorza wasn’t very active on the campaign trail, meaning that he mostly let his record speak for itself. The support voters throughout the city showed him means people are pleased with the direction Providence is headed.

“It matters how people view the progress of the city more than the actions of campaigning,” she said.

— mlist@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7121

On Twitter: @madeleine_list

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